02.29.16
Update on Civil Complaints and Criminal Complaints Against EPO Vice-President Željko Topić in Lufthansa/Airplus Case
Topić on the left, wearing shades in the shade
Summary: Some much-needed transparency in the cases (some among many) against Željko Topić, who is now crushing staff unions at the European Patent Office (EPO)
Benoît Battistelli’s right-hand man, Željko Topić, was said to have faced “a dozen serious criminal charges,” but the exact number may not be known to anyone other than Topić and his highly expensive lawyers whom we mentioned here before. When dealing with EPO scandals, there are many different kinds of scandals. It’s not some singular scandal but a large number thereof. The same applies to Topić in Croatia. One of the scandals which we wrote about several times in the past involved German airliner Lufthansa. This is the most detailed explanation published here thus far.
“For your information,” a reader told us, there is a new article titled “ŽUPANIJSKI SUD ISTRAGU PROTIV ŽELJKA TOPIĆA PROGLASIO NEDOPUŠTENOM” (TOPIĆA being Topić). “The report appeared on the Web site of the Croatian news portal tjedno.hr on 23 February,” said our the reader.
Might anyone among our readers be able to get a quick translation? Our understanding, based on a source, is that this update from Croatia says: “Is everybody equal before the law?”
“According to the report,” the reader told us, “in proceedings before the Municipal Criminal Court of Zagreb, the presiding judge Zoran Luburić dismissed two criminal complaints against Željko Topić as “inadmissible”.
“Mr. Frgačić has filed both criminal and civil complaints against Topić in relation to the Lufthansa/Airplus dispute.”
–Anonymous“It seems that the plaintiff in these cases was Mr. Rikard Frgačić who according to our information has lodged an appeal against the decisions of the Criminal Court.
“The Judge Mr. Luburić apparently rejected the criminal complaints against Topić on the grounds that the matter relates to the Lufthansa/Airplus trademark dispute which is still pending before the SIPO following a decision of the Administrative Court to send Mr. Frgačić’s case back to the SIPO for re-examination.
“Mr. Frgačić has filed both criminal and civil complaints against Topić in relation to the Lufthansa/Airplus dispute.
“So, the matter is still open in civil proceedings. As far as the criminal proceedings are concerned, as mentioned above, Mr. Frgačić has filed appeals against Mr. Luburić’s decisions to dismiss his criminal complaints.”
“So, the matter is still open in civil proceedings. As far as the criminal proceedings are concerned, as mentioned above, Mr. Frgačić has filed appeals against Mr. Luburić’s decisions to dismiss his criminal complaints.”
–AnonymousIt’s this kind of cases that led us to actually speaking to the familiar parties directly.
“Mr. Frgačić might be able to provide you with more details about the recent court decisions,” our source noted. We have been in touch with Topić’s victims for over a year and also spoke to Frgačić more than usual lately. The EPO won’t tell its staff anything about it, but Topić is still under a barrage of legal cases, some of them more severe than others. Criminal cases are numerous. We are going to do our best to keep readers abreast of developments in this area, as too few people out there can comprehend Croatian. Lack of information — a vacuum that no doubt the EPO benefits from — only serves Mr. Topić right now. To prove his innocence he will have to win a lot of court cases, some of which he repeatedly loses (and then appeals because he can afford it — unlike his victims — supported by a massive salary from the EPO). █
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